Naughty In Nice (A Royal Spyness Mystery)

I said. “And as for Bobby Groper—you know very well that young Englishmen only rise before noon to hunt. So I think I can safely leave them until this afternoon. And you could send the telegram for me when you go into town, couldn’t you, Mummy?”
    “I suppose I could,” my mother said with a sigh as if this was a huge imposition, “but I can’t understand this fascination with Toby Groper. Why is it so important you go to visit him? He’s not attractive, he’s only just about socially acceptable and he’s not even pleasant.”
    Oh, dear, what could I say? “I know all of those things. But—well, you have to understand, after the austere life I’ve led, an invitation on a yacht as well as a swim in a heated swimming pool do sound frightfully exciting. Who knows when I’ll ever be invited on a yacht again.” I realized even as I was saying these things that they made me sound horribly shallow.
    Coco came and put an arm around me. “She’s young; she’s excited about being on the Riviera for the first time. Who can blame her?”
    “If she wants fun and romance, she should not be looking in the direction of Toby Groper, that’s what I’m saying,” Mummy said. “Old enough to be her father and with terrible taste in women.”
    “Besides, one hears that Lady Groper has arrived on the scene,” Vera added. “She’s a fearsome woman if ever there was one. I remember her from my coming-out days—Lady Margaret Huntingdon-Blague, daughter of the Earl of Romney. Even then she was what one might call strong willed—bloody minded would be more like it.”
    “I have no intention of showing any romantic interest in Sir Toby,” I said.
    “Then it must be his son,” Coco exclaimed. “Nobody goes to all this trouble for a swim in a pool.”
    “Do you tie everything in to sex?” I asked.
    “But of course. Doesn’t everyone?” Coco laughed.
    “Anyway, the same goes for Sir Toby as those other people,” Mummy said. “He won’t be up and ready to receive guests for hours.”
    “One of his guests was up and swimming in the pool really early.” I tried to toss off the words, but instead I felt myself blushing at the memory of that beautiful naked body.
    “Even so, I don’t think you would endear yourself to Sir Toby if you arrived on his doorstep too early,” Mummy said. “As you said, it simply isn’t done. Not that he would know—nasty little upstart.”
    I thought that was rather amusing, coming from the daughter of a London policeman, but Mummy still acted the role of Duchess of Rannoch, even if she no longer officially held the position. Breakfast arrived and we worked our way through coffee and croissants while my table companions argued about what they should be doing to recover the necklace and how they could prevent the news from coming to the queen’s ears. As they talked, I was planning out exactly what I’d say to Sir Toby Groper. He didn’t know who I was last night. At some time I’d either have to lie to him about my name or tell the truth. Either was fraught with difficulty : If I told him I was one of Coco’s models, he could have me arrested for stealing the snuffbox—provided I managed to get my hands on it. However, if I told him my true identity, he would realize that he had insulted my mother and that I came with strong royal ties—so he might well hide the snuffbox away.
    No, I had to play the ingénue, the young, carefree girlabout-town—which wasn’t going to be easy. I was young, and reasonably carefree, but I had never been the girl about any kind of town in my life! I considered going to find Belinda and bringing her along for authenticity, but I didn’t want to involve her in any kind of potential scandal. To tell the truth, I felt a little guilty about Belinda. She had been an absolute brick for me in the past, and now she was stuck in a miserable pension while I was enjoying this delightful villa.
    “Mummy,” I interrupted their discussion. “You remember Belinda, don’t you? My friend from school?”
    “The naughty one? The one you said was turning out like me?” She smiled.
    “She’s here in Nice and she doesn’t have much money at the moment so I wondered if we could squeeze her in here, at the villa.”
    “She wouldn’t want to be this far out of town, darling,” Mummy said dismissively. “Too cut off from all the exciting goings-on. It does rather put a damper on nightlife, unless she wants to pay for taxis.”
    “But if she